This is a video commercial made by the Dutch brewer Heineken. The commercial begins at a house party, which is probably a house warming party hosted by a couple. The lady shows her friends around and suddenly walks through the master bedroom and into a gigantic walk-in-closet. Her four friends get really excited and everybody starts to scream.
Abruptly the screaming ladies are interrupted and calmed down by a noise from another part of the apartment. The camera now shows the man of the house and his friends who just walk into an enormous fridge. It is a walk-in-fridge full of green, ice-cold Heineken bottles – and they scream even louder than the women.
Based on the actors this ad is mainly targeted towards males, who are either adults or young adults. The participants in this commercial behave and look like they are in their late 20's or mid-30's, though the party atmosphere can be targeted towards both men and women, who are allowed to drink. Furthermore, there are a bunch of specific targets groups, who are included in the party section. Football supporters, travelers and tourists, students, restaurant and bar staff, and musicians are some of them. Heineken is a global company and the target group is colossal, as it includes all kinds of people.
[...] The advertisement we decided to select, is one of the most successful ones of this campaign, with a little more than 2.5 million views within 3 months of being launched on the official website: Heineken.nl. In light of this situation, Heineken decided to promote this advertisement on TV and in Cinemas, and thus take advantage of this great success. That is why we are able to view this advertisement on UK television or UK cinema. At this stage, we cannot see this advertisement on Dutch TV but maybe we will see it there in a few years. [...]
[...] Before beginning our analysis about this advertisement in the selected country, we consider that it is important to remember where and in which context this advertisement comes from. A few months earlier, the Heineken Company had decided to launch a new marketing campaign, more specifically an online campaign based on the concept of viral marketing (buzz). They decided to put several advertisements online which promote Heineken beer in a humoristic way, so that people could share the promotional movies on social media, or talk about it with friends, etc. [...]
[...] That is why, the party setting and the large number of guests, is an attempt to connect the Heineken brand with the consumer's mind, as it looks like a normal party with a little madness. With respect to the importance of achievement in a masculine culture, is really important to be the winner. That is why, the advertisement shows the competition between the women and men; both of them shout when they see the private place. This aspect is not limited. [...]
[...] Heineken is a global company and the target group is colossal, as it includes all kinds of people. ASSESS THE OBJECTIVE OF THE AD Because of the presence of a diverse target group the most important thing is probably to get people excited, and make then laugh. They have been successful with the use of a good joke which can attract a large number of people. The humor in the advert is definitely important. Though not every citizen of the UK is amused by this joke about stereotypes, there are a lot of people, both men and women who can identify with the ad, and through it get excited about Heineken beer which should be the main objective while creating a commercial. [...]
[...] We note a low power distance index and an extremely high rate of individualism. The masculinity is quite strong as well, translating into a high degree of gender differentiation of roles. The male dominates a significant portion of the society and power structure. Thus, the low uncertainty avoidance and the short term orientation make us confident that the ad can be used in the USA. The last country we have selected for the Heineken advertisement is Australia. As we see in the graph above, Australia has the same index levels as the others countries that we have studied so far; that is to say, a low power distance but individualistic culture, and a culture of masculinity with a short term orientation. [...]
APA Style reference
For your bibliographyOnline reading
with our online readerContent validated
by our reading committee